C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 001018 NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 
08/15/2018 TAGS: NATO, PARM, KCFE, RU, GG, IT SUBJECT: TFGG01: ITALIANS 
NOT LIKELY TO BE HELPFUL ON NAC STATEMENT REF: STATE 85678 Classified 
By: Ronald P. Spogli, Ambassador, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d ) 

1. (C/NF)
Poloff spoke with Carlo Battori, Deputy NATO Office Director, who 
stated that Italy had not decided whether to support a NAC statement on 
the situation in Georgia and added that Italy's position was likely to 
be more "balanced" than that of other NATO countries. Battori quickly 
added, however, that Italy would continue to insist that Georgia's 
territorial integrity and sovereignty be respected. He said the GOI's 
immediate concern was supporting the French-led diplomatic effort in the
region and would not do anything to derail the process. Additionally, 
from the GOI perspective, it was still unclear what had actually 
happened and how the situation was evolving. Georgia and Russia's 
behavior and openness toward dealing with the negotiating teams would be
taken into account in forming the GOI position. 

2. (C/NF) Battori's 
noted that the final decision on whether to condemn Russia for its 
actions in Georgia will rest with the Foreign Minister. FM Frattini told
the press this morning that the EU should maintain a unified position 
on this situation and avoid framing a response in anti-Russian terms. He
called the Polish, Lithuanian, Czech and Estonian proposal to convene a
special meeting of EU heads of state a negative development. 

3. (C/NF) 
Comment: Given Frattini's statements to the press and Battori's careful 
articulation of Italian resistance to any statement condemning Russia, 
the GOI is likely to be less than helpful in the NAC. Berlusconi and 
Putin have already spoken and we expect Russia to try to use the 
personal relationship between the two to urge Italy to derail efforts to
condemn its actions in international fora. SPOGLI